VISTA, Calif. (KGTV) - A Vista woman Ruba Almasri is urgently working to evacuate her nieces, nephews, and other family members from war-torn Gaza.
Almasri expressed frustration as she detailed the conditions faced by her sisters Dalia and Mariam's families.
“It’s horrible, really bad,” said Almasri. “They go to sleep sometimes. She sees them shaking, and they wake up saying, ’It’s coming! It’s coming!’”
Both families, including 10 children, evacuated to her mother's home in southern Gaza, which was also subject to bombings. She said one of her sisters told her about the trauma on the children.
Two weeks ago, there was a heart-pounding phone call. The bombs sounded louder than ever.
“My mom said, ‘If we don’t make it, we love you, and we want you to live a good life. If it’s our destiny, it’s going to happen.’ I thought I would never hear from them, back again," Almasri said in tears.
"The bombing was so intense. I could hear it in the background. The children were screaming,” she said.
Fortunately, the family escaped unhurt, though the surrounding neighborhoods suffered considerable damage.
Video recorded by Almasri's 14-year-old niece shows the bombed out area near the home.
They were then forced to evacuate. While the two sisters are now in the border town of Rafah, they have separated, and one family is residing in a tent. With bakeries and shops now closed, food and water supplies are sparse.
Almasri's mother successfully left through the Egyptian border last week, when the U.S. State Department agreed to put her on a border list as an immediate family member. However, the other family members did not qualify.
Almasri said they are losing hope, including her 21-year-old niece. “She says, ‘I pray when I hear the bombing, that this bomb will take our lives, and we will be done with this. We can’t handle this anymore,’” said Almasri.
Almasri has initiated a GoFundMe campaign to raise the necessary funds, with the cost to secure a spot on the evacuation list ranging from $4,000 to $7,000 per family member—a financial burden her family cannot currently bear.
“I’m acting with a huge sense of agency to get them out off the situation,” she said.
Almasri said her 79-year-old mother is staying with friends in Egypt, hoping to reunite with her family. It's unclear where they will relocate to if everyone is able to get out.
